Seeing Redd
by AdoniaAlma
Summary: Silver Pines is a sleepy little town chock full of memories and mysterious pasts... Crazy Redd's past, for example: this is the town in which he was born and raised, made friends and enemies, had a dream, and fell in love. This is also the town in which he experienced the ultimate betrayal, and was forced to abandon the love of his life. Redd x Tess(OC) *disclaimer included*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This story is a branch off of one called "Tight Stitches" by the marvelous **Hoehomi-Chan **and I do not own that original story, nor do I wish to stake claims on her wonderful story. I have permission from the author to write this and I am very excited to show you all the past and now present of Crazy Redd, the brokenhearted, the misunderstood... He has a past. Read it, and weep... But it would help if you read "Tight Stitches" first.

Chapter one

_It was the last straw. She rejected him. After everything he had done for her, she just rejected him. He would have given her anything and everything, his home, his money, his heart... His entire life._

_But Sable Able was having none of it._

_He had found the pretty hedgehog brokenhearted and pregnant, wandering the streets of the city, cruelly rejected by the father of her unborn twins and her own sister. She had run away, with nowhere to go. And that's how Redd found her, ready to burst into tears and give up._

_Out of the goodness of his heart he had taken her in, given her a job and a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear... He had sacrificed so much for her! And she had repaid him with kindness, and for the first time in ages the hardened heart of Crazy Redd had felt love and happiness._

_He gave her his heart._

_But it was all for nothing. Because once he had proposed to her, she had rejected him; she was still in love with HIM. It didn't help that Redd had lied to her, to everyone, about him; he had enveloped the father of Sable Able's children in scandal, scandal that broke her weary heart. And yet after all of the pain, she still loved him..._

_The raccoon... How Redd hated him. But this was not the first time Tom Nook had ruined Redd's chances at happiness. No, Redd had been through all of this before... Under slightly different circumstances, of course..._

"Last stop, Silver Pines," called out Kapp'n from the front of the bus. "Hey, fox, isn't this your stop?" Redd shook himself out of his reverie and jumped out of his seat.

"Yes. Of course it is. Silver Pine. Haven't been here in ages. This is just CRAAAAZZZYYY."

The old turtle shook his head and the doors swung open.

"Well, welcome back. I don't reckon much has changed since you've been here. Have a good visit." He nodded sleepily as Redd bid him goodbye and stepped off of the bus, then shut the doors and drove off, leaving Redd standing alone at the familiar old bus stop.

"I'm back," whispered the fox, the con-man, the slippery black marketeer. He closed his eyes and breathed in the spicy scent of pine and apple blossoms... Memories of his childhood flooded his brain. The old townsfolk, his family and friends, the familiar buildings... He took a deep breath and pushed it all out of his mind. "Even if the town hasn't changed, I sure have. No one will even recognize me now, I bet. Call me CRAAAAZZZYYY if they d-"

"Ah, Redd. Long time no see! What brings you here to little old Silver Pines?" He was interrupted by a loud screeching voice. The surprised orange fox turned to see the wizened old mayor, an elderly male snowy owl, walking toward him.

"Tullio!" He said, a smile exploding across his face. "It has been a long time. I'm here on a little... Vacation of sorts." _A vacation from that place, those memories... Crazy memories... _The owl tapped him on the side with his wooden cane.

"Ah, yes- a vacation! Everybody needs a little vacation every once in a while." Redd nodded in agreement. He has no idea. "Well, I hope you enjoy yourself. You'll be glad to know that pretty much everything is the same, with the exception of a few new villagers having moved in and a few of the old ones having moved out. Like Boris, he left a while ago. Oh, and Freya and Wolfgang got married and went out into the world to start their life together."

"Yes, well isn't it CRAAAAZZZYYY, but I see the pair of 'em in the city sometimes. They have a kid now," Redd said, happy that he knew something about his old town. He hadn't kept up with the local gossip. He didn't know who lived in Silver Pines now. He had completely left his past in the past, not wanting anything to do with it.

_Until now, when I need to escape something else,_ he thought bitterly. But Tullio once again interrupted his thoughts with his chatter.

"Is that right? How wonderful," he practically cooed. "You should go around and greet everybody. I know Tess will be pleased to see you!" Redd's blood suddenly ran cold.

_Tess._

"She- she- Tess!?" Redd couldn't believe his ears. "She's here? But I thought she-"

"Left?" Tullio smiled knowingly. "She did for a while. But she came home when she couldn't stand being alone anymore." Guilt stabbed Redd's heart. _Alone... And I left her like that._ His emotions were mixed though; he had never wanted to leave her, it hadn't been his choice! He was forced to leave her! _It wasn't my fault, it was-_

"Redd?" Again, the mayor's voice snapped him back to reality. "Let the past be the past. Look to the future." Redd blinked, unaware that he was shaking like a chihuahua.

"What future?" He said, bitterness oozing in his voice, "I have no future." Tom Nook has made sure of that. Tullio put a wing around the trembling fox's shoulders.

"Maybe you feel that way because you are so caught up in the past you cannot believe there can be a future." Redd pulled away from the owl's touch and Tullio let his wing drop to his side as he cocked his head. "At least let her know you're back. You owe her that much."

_If only you knew just how much I do owe her... Tess._

**PLEASE READ THIS NEXT BIT... It will help you understand. :)**

**I am so sorry for the confusing chapter... Let me just explain some things. Redd grew up in Silver Pines, alongside Tom Nook and his family.**

**Tom's father and mother (Norris and Tara Nook) own the local store, a small business much less regal than Nookington's- the store is called Nook's Niche. Growing up helping his parents inspired him to one day open up and run his own store, and he did so in the town of Wenton. (Wenton is the main town mentioned in the story "Tight Stitches.")**

**Tom has two sisters...the older sister is named Tilly, who is the mother of Tommy and Timmy and moved back in with her parents after her husband Mack died.**

**The younger sister is named Tess, and as is implied, she and Redd have a history... But I won't spoil anything; all this is is a little history to avoid confusion.**

**Everything in Silver Pines is similar to the set up of every other Animal Crossing town, just with my own spin on things. Like Nook's Niche is run by the two elderly Nooks and their oldest child Tilly. The tailor is run by a cute panda named Coralie and her brother Cross. The museum and coffee shop of Silver Pines are separate; the curator of the museum is a cat named Jasper, and the coffee shop is run by a pretty Yorkshire terrier named Sadie. The post office/ town hall is home to Mayor Tullio, his daughter Angel (she is the night time mail clerk), and and Catrine (the pretty canary who is the day time mail clerk.)**

**Now that you have a general idea of the town and some of the connections, I hope you look forward to reading more of Seeing Redd! Read and Review please, and if you have any helpful advice or ideas PLEASE give them to me straight! Thanks :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Redd didn't have a hard time deciding where to go first, now that he was back in Silver Pines. He made a bee line for The Needle's Eye, where he knew he would find someone he could talk to to. His best friend ever since he could remember, Coralie Stitch.

He stood there, outside the shop. It seemed so much smaller than he had remembered; when he had been a cub, it had seemed so huge. Now it didn't seem any bigger than GracieGrace, the clothing department store in the city, where Labelle worked... Sable's sister.

_Sable, where are you now? _Again, he shook the thought from his mind. _Stop that, Redd! She is dead to you now. She probably hates my guts at this point, anyway_. He bared his teeth at the memory of him throwing her out into the cold, alone to fend for herself with her two newborn babies...

_The raccoon's babies._ He reminded himself, mentally deciding to stop worrying about the young mother. _She rejected me, after all. _

It wasn't his fault she was on her own now.

_If it's anyone's fault it's Tom Nook's; He's the one who wouldn't take responsibility for his own actions._

Thinking that made him feel guilty though, as unwelcome memories flooded his mind.

_"Redd, I'm so sorry. I should have been more careful!" She had been crying, reaching out to him for help. And he had given it to her. He had taken her in, tried to make things right. They left Silver Pines together, to make a new life. But she wouldn't marry him, not until she knew for sure._

_Not until she knew she was really pregnant with his child. _

_If only I had been more responsible. If only I hadn't just let her go. Things would be so much different now... None of this wouldn't have happened. _

_None of this..._

The memories were too much for him. He couldn't bear to think of her now. Tess, he thought sadly. What did I do wrong? He wondered if it was too late now, too late to correct his mistakes from so long ago.

_It's too late to beg her to take me back... Isn't it?_

He looked up, and realized he was standing outside his destination. The Needle's Eye. He took a deep breath, tried to empty his mind of the painful memories, and opened the door.

Dingdingding! Coralie heard the door swing open and ring the bells she had hung in the doorway, to let her know when someone had walked into the store. The Needle's Eye was a popular stop in Silver Pines, for locals and tourists alike, and there was always a fair number of visitors every day.

She looked up to greet the visitor, a cheery smile on her face.

"Good morning, welcome to The Needle's Eye! How might we serve you today?" The visitor's head was bowed, and when he slowly looked up, Coralie's heart almost stopped.

"Hey, Cora," Redd smiled back at her, speaking quietly, preparing himself for the worst. "Long time, no see, eh? Isn't that just CRAAAZZ-" He was cut off by a flying hug from the female panda, who dropped everything she had been doing (sorting fabric) to attack him.

"OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH!" She yelled, tears streaming from her large periwinkle eyes, mascara streaking down her classic red panda eye patches. She buried her face in his neck, and cried. "Redd! How dare you leave and not come back! I had no idea where you were, you sent me zero letters- I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Redd could hardly breathe, she was holding him so tightly. He gave a pitiful squeak and hugged her back.

"I'm sorry Cora," he gasped and she let him go, trying to relax when she realized how tightly she was squeezing her long-time friend. He took a few long, deep breaths before speaking again.

"I really am sorry," he said, smoothing down his rumpled fur and staring down at the floor. "I just couldn't handle having anything to do with anything that had to do with this town, if that makes any sense." Coralie nodded slowly. She knew exactly what he meant.

In fact, she was the only one in this entire town who knew what he meant. Redd has never bothered telling any one else the truth about what had really happened, about why he had really left. And Coralie hadn't told a soul; Redd knew he could trust the cute panda seamstress with anything. She was his best friend- really, the only real friend he had ever had.

_Well, besides Sable..._

He shook himself, frustrated that the porcupine's name kept popping up in his thoughts. He looked up at his friend.

She hadn't changed much in all the years he had been gone. Her red and white fur was still untouched by the harsh chemicals of dye, her short red bangs still curled over her forehead in the same tasteful style. Her periwinkle eyes still sparkled and shone in the same friendly way they had when they were kids...That was what had drawn the fox to the panda in the first place: her big, round, innocent, friendly eyes. Somehow he had always known that she was someone he could trust and depend on.

"Redd, I've missed you so much," she said, taking his paw in her larger red one. He patted it gently with his free paw, and then they stood there like that, clasping paws in the doorway of the store. They remained silent for a minute or two, before Redd spoke up again.

"Coralie, I need to ask you for some advice." She smiled, any trace of sadness vanishing from her eyes.

"Some things never change," she giggled and put her hands on her hips. "Go on, shoot. I'm waiting, Foxx!" Redd shook his head, trying to remember if his friend had always been this pushy. He was pretty sure she had; that was probably why they were still friends.

"It's... Well, it's going to sound CRAAAZZZYYY... It's about Te-"

"Crazy Redd Foxx, could it really be you!?" Redd was interrupted by a deep grizzly voice from another doorway in the shop. He looked up and saw the large male panda looming in the open doorway to his private workshop.

"Yup, it's me, CRAAAZZZYYYY old Redd Foxx," he said, looking the male up and down. "And you haven't changed a bit, Cross; you're still big and scary! Haha!"

It was true: Cross Stitch the panda had always been a rather large specimen. His huge indigo paws and strong arms were the first things you would notice about him. Then you'd look at his barrel chest, and muscular legs. Last of all you'd notice his face; his bright blue eyes stood out in dark indigo eye patches, and his small red nose made a stark contrast against the white fur of his face.

He wore a pair of simple gray slacks, a black tank top bearing their simple gray and red trademark design of a needle and thread on the front, and a very old patched up cardigan with every color imaginable in its old, worn fabric. He had had that sweater for as long as Redd could remember.

"Redd, you of all animals know that Cross is not really scary," Coralie gave him a friendly slap on the back, and he turned to her, snarling in mock anger.

"How dare you! How dare you slap me!?" He grabbed her arms and pushed her back, and she snarled back.

"How dare I? How dare you, Foxx!?" She twisted out of the fox's grasp and pushed back, not so hard as to hurt him, of course. Cross just shook his head, said goodbye, and went back into his workshop.

"You called my brother scary. Take it back!" Coralie held up her rather large fists, ready to "fight" if necessary. Redd grinned wickedly, laughing like a crazed villain.

"Hahahaha! Redd takes nothing back. What's said is said, and what's done is done," his voice was suddenly serious. "I can't change the past, Cora. It's over." She blinked rapidly, thinking hard.

_What is he talking about?_ She was worried about her friend. She knew he didn't have a great past here in Silver Pines.

She knew all about the scandal with the Nook family, all about the drama and the pain he went through trying to make things right. She knew how he had gotten hurt, how he had made mistakes, and how nothing seemed to ever go his way. And she knew he had disappeared for years, and that he had probably been alone all this time.

_What else could have happened to him?_

"Redd," she murmured, taking his paws again. "Tell me everything. I'll listen." And the fox smiled.

"You always do," he whispered, tears coming unbidden to his narrow eyes. And he did just that: he told Coralie everything.

**Sorry for not updating sooner! I had a hard time figuring out how to write this, and I wasn't going to publish anything until I was sure it was exactly how I wanted it. **

**Not that this is a perfect chapter or anything... I'm definitely open to criticism and suggestions. Please, give me all you've got in your reviews! I need all the help I can get.**

**Anyway, I hope you like it, and keep on reading when I update. I'll try to do so at least once a week. Remember! READ AND REVIEW.**


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